My Definition of Normal

Looking For Alaska & Game of Thrones: A Not-Review

School’s out for 2 weeks! This means I have time to read, write and watch shows. Very productive, I might say. Before even finishing my common tests, I couldn’t resist the lure of the book sitting on my table (complete with the plastic bag it came with) and started reading, giving myself an excuse (we still need to relax during the test week). Since Thursday was the day of the final paper, I had 3 whole days to catch up on my favourite TV series too. Here’s what comes into my mind whenever I think of these two wonderful creations.

Looking For Alaska

As mentioned in an earlier post, this was a birthday gift from my dear friends. Now let me dig up that picture from the recesses of my computer…

Aha!

I finished this book within the common test week itself, one day before the last paper. I just couldn’t put it down. This story is about Miles Halter (or Pudge), a high school student with an obsession with last words. Tired of his less than interesting life, he decided to head over to Culver Creek Boarding School in search of the Great Perhaps (Poet François Rabelais’ last words were “I go to seek a Great Perhaps.”). It was in Culver Creek that Pudge found friends who would take him in, who cared about him and who would make his life so much crazier. If you observe the book closely enough, you would have noticed that there are 2 grey lines running down amongst the cream coloured pages. They divide the book into a ‘before’ and ‘after’ respectively. The story centrals around what happened before and after this huge event in Pudge’s and his friends’ lives and the realisations or enlightenment that came in the after.

The characters in Looking For Alaska are very real. You could almost believe the story. Pudge is the quiet guy, intelligent and inexperienced in many ways. The Colonel is angsty but very loyal to those he cares about. Takumi is caring and understanding. Lara is beautiful and shy. Alaska is crazy, self-destructive but very smart. You could put names of people you know to these characters.

As I read, I lived. I experienced life without experiencing it personally. I will very likely not smoke in my life, but I now know how it makes people feel better. The getting drunk part, well, I’ve personally experienced, but the drinking-after-you’ve-experienced-a-traumatising-hangover part I’ve finally understood. Defying the authorities also plays a huge part in this narration and anyone who has that teacher they hate will laugh and wish they dared to do such things in school. This book is all about making mistakes and experiencing the ups and downs of life. As a teenager. As someone who’s not exactly a child, but not a grown-up either.

Warning: Looking For Alaska is a highly emotional piece of writing. It will make you chuckle, dread, choke up and think.

Materials needed: The book (well, duh), a bookmark, a box of tissues (if you’re highly susceptible to crying), your eyes, glasses (if you can do without) and your big, fat brain. You DO NOT need coffee. The story line is good enough to keep you going. In fact, you might want to consider sleeping pills.

Game of Thrones

This. Show. Made. Me. Sleep. At. Six. In. The. Morning.

If you haven’t heard of Game of Thrones, it’s high time you did. All thanks to the Internet, I got to envelope myself with sword-fighting, head-chopping and horse-riding that is the medieval world. It helps that I’m a huge fan of medieval and fantasy related shows and books. No, I haven’t watched Lord of the Rings fully, but when I saw the posters and pictures for Game of Thrones, I knew at once that this would be my favourite TV series. I was right.

You win or you die.

Game of Thrones mainly revolves around several members of noble families scattered across Westeros, each of them fighting for the Iron Throne, located in King’s Landing. The King rules over the whole world. Maybe that’s why so many would kill to sit on that metal chair. In the centre of this mess is the Stark family. They have no desire to conquer the throne, but were embroiled in the screwed-up politics when Robert Baratheon, the King called upon Eddard “Ned” Stark, Lord of Winterfell (that’s where House Stark is located) to be Hand of the King. Which basically means being the King’s assistant, doing all sorts of crap and facing lots of trouble. Ned travels to King’s Landing with his 2 daughters, Sansa and Arya while his wife, Catelyn and 3 sons, Robb, Bran and Rickon stay behind. Robb takes over his role as Lord of Winterfell while he is gone which basically means that he has to grow up real quickly. Ned’s bastard son, Jon rides to the Wall with his uncle Benjen to be part of the Night’s Watch, an army of mostly unwanted men sent to guard the Wall. The Wall is a barrier that divides the land into North and South and it is always winter there (by the way, summers and winters last a long long time there). Beyond the Wall lives the wildlings, normal people who were locked in the North and the white walkers, which are just freaking creepy things, especially if you started watching the first episode in the late of the night in a thunderstorm.

So basically, disasters happen and that’s how the story develops. Over time, characters you love die (there are lots of memes about George R. R. Martin out there) and bad things happen just when you thought things were going to get better all the time. I haven’t read the books, but I’m not regretting it. I will buy the whole set of them when the whole set comes out and I will read like there’s no tomorrow. For now, I’ll just concentrate on finishing the series within this week or so, then mourn about the nine month wait for season 3.

Materials needed: A good Internet connection, your eyes, glasses, a box of tissues, a quiet room (preferably with closed doors because you don’t want your younger siblings watching a rated-18 show) and your heart (to love, to hate and to feel). Sleeping pills suggested if you need to go to school/work the next morning.

I’ll leave you with a list of my favourite characters while I’ll go study for my French test tomorrow.

Jon Snow – Bastard son of Ned Stark, loves his family very much even though he received less love, loyal, serious